This game will be forever remembered as being the game which
featured that goal. It was the goal that everyone spoke about. It was the goal
that was voted goal of the year. The goal that many Leeds
fans remember as being the best they ever saw. Yeboah
was soon to produce another goal to rival or some say even better it just weeks
later at Wimbledon. He had scored many goals before for Leeds
and he scored many after. He won games for Leeds on his
own, such as a hat-trick that killed off Monaco,
again, soon after this goal but few remember anything more about the game
except that it was one of the special few that went the way of United rather
than the customary win for the Reds from Liverpool.

Tony Yeboah had got the United season off to a flying start by scoring both goals in
their 2-1 win at West Ham United on the opening day of the season. Over at Anfield Stan Collymore was the
toast of the Reds after brilliantly conjuring up a goal out of nothing to earn Liverpool
their opening day success over Sheffield Wednesday. So
the scene was set for the battle of the ‘big money men’ and Gary McAllister
offered his views. “It should be interesting to see both of them. Tony showed
us what he is capable of in the second half of last season and Collymore caused us a lot of problems when he played
against us for Nottingham Forest.” The Leeds captain
said.

In the fifty-first minute, Tony Yeboah
smashed in a devastating volley of such velocity that it was just a blur to the
watching audience and even more of a blur to the poor Liverpool
keeper, David James, as it hit the underside of the crossbar. It decided the
match which had been billed as a match of the expensive strikers. For Leeds
there was Tony Yeboah, who had cost Leeds
£3.4 million, when bought from Eintracht Frankfurt in
the second half of the previous season. And for Liverpool,
the highest priced player in the land, Stan Collymore,
who had cost them £8.5 million in the close season. The clash never really
eventuated as Stan Collymore retired from the action
after twenty minutes and was substituted for the young Robbie Fowler.

The match was developing into an absorbing encounter, when
John Pemberton made a controversial tackle on Stan Collymore,
who limped out of the action ten minutes afterwards. Liverpoolwere starting to make inroads down the flanks with
full backs Rob Jones and Steve Harkness impressive.
David Wetherall dispossessed the lively Robbie Fowler
with his hands rather than his feet and from the ensuing free-kick Jamie Redknapp, the Liverpool free-kick specialist, stood back
and let John Barnes shoot high wind and not very handsome from the free-kick
which was in a very dangerous position. Although the game was closely contested,
the first half hardly sparkled but it picked up considerably after Tony Yeboah’s magnificent strike.

Both sides had the chances and could have added to the
score. John Lukic saved well from Robbie Fowler
before Ian Rush poked the ball agonisingly wide, while Rob Jones had a shot
deflected onto the woodwork. While United could point to David James denying
them at least two goals as he tipped a well struck shot from Gary McAllister
one-handed round the post and somehow denied Brian Deane a goal with a reflex
save from close range.

The 1-0 victory meant that United had a 100% record for the
two games played, but Ray Evans’ men were furious over the Pemberton/Collymore incident. They claimed that the tackle had forced
the record British signing to limp from the field with a damaged ankle. The way
they saw it, and the TV replays seemed to re-enforce their view, was that John
Pemberton had clattered into the striker deep into the box after barely five
minutes play, scything him into the ground with the ball out of the frame.
Referee Ellery, who was up with play just waved play on.

Ray Evans commented, “It was some goal but it gave us a lift
and I thought we deserved something from the game. We’ll probably play worse
than we did here and win.”